Anna Malfame and the Ultimate Sacrifice
by akiqueen
Summary: The seventh and final year of Anna Malfame. With the help of the Sorting Hat and the Founders, Malfame might have a chance at defeating the Dark Lord. With the ultimate sacrifice, the reign of Voldemort might finally end.
1. Chapter 1

**Previously on ****Anna Malfame and the Intentional Imprisonment****: Upon the request of Gryffindor Seeker, Cassius, Anna Malfame went after Lucas Chang, only to end up at the Malfoy Manor. There, she witnessed the death of her rival. Through some family friends and a steel will, Malfame became the final Death Eater under Voldemort. Pledging herself to him, Anna returns back to school and confronts the embodiment of Time. He takes her back to talk with Albus Dumbledore, who promises to leave her a clue to the mystery of Horcruxes. But all he leaves is the Sorting Hat.**

**Summary: The seventh and final year of Anna Malfame. With the help of the Sorting Hat and the Founders, Anna just might have a chance at defeating the Dark Lord. House rivalries and differences must end in the face of a greater evil. And with the ultimate sacrifice, the reign of Voldemort might finally end.**

Anna Malfame and the Ultimate Sacrifice

Chapter One

Summer school at Hogwarts was monotonous. I was soon caught up with last year's work and would've been more than happy to leave. However, my parents (Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy) were among the teachers staying to tutor everyone else. So, to my great disappointment, I was stuck at Hogwarts. _It's the safest place to be my arse_, I thought. I was the only one from my House staying for the summer. I sighed and walked into the common room. There was no furniture; I had cleared it with the help of Severus, who was also staying behind. The floor was littered with papers, diagrams, and textbooks. I frowned; I had been working on dismantling the protective spells set on Hogwarts as Voldemort had ordered me to. I flicked my wand and a large list of spells appeared in front of me; the ones I or the Slytherins had removed were crossed out. My eyes scanned the page and I dumbly realized that there was only a handful left; the ones that one person alone couldn't remove. Deciding that I could do no more, I organized the remaining papers and textbooks into a neat pile. I glanced at a gnarled old clock mounted on the wall. It read 2 o'clock in the morning. I trudged into my old dorm and flopped down onto the bed. The curtains were wide open and the Sorting Hat was hanging awkwardly from a bedpost. "You're not going to tell me anything today either, are you?" I asked, my voice muffled by my green bedsheets. The Hat hadn't said a word to me ever since I took it from the Headmistress's office at the end of my sixth year.

"I bet you're wondering if you were placed in the right House?" he asked and I jumped up in shock. The picked up the Sorting Hat and looked at the creases that formed his eyes and mouth. "You've shown quite the amount of bravery. Maybe I sorted you into the wrong House. You'd have done better in Gryffindor."

"But then the Dark lord wouldn't have placed so much trust on me," I said, thinking about how I had offered myself to Voldemort and how easily he had accepted me. But what the hat said next brought a new wave of doubt.

"You sure he trusts you? He could be using you. Years of trying to kill your father and Harry Potter is still alive. Two of his Death Eaters have betrayed him and are still alive."

"And he could be using me to get close to them. So all of my efforts to gain his trust are for nothing. Dismantling the spells are just his way in; once he gets his hands on my fathers I will be expendable. Just like Rowle Thorfinn," I surmised. "But what can I do? I already submitted to the Dark Mark. And the only way to get rid of Voldemort is to destroy his Horcruxes. I have to die to kill Voldemort. And so do Severus and Draco." I had realized, too late, that the Dark Lord wasn't as senile and crazy as I had thought him to be. Something from the bottom of the hat shimmered and I picked up a vile. It was the memory I had given Dumbledore of receiving the Dark Mark. With it was a note written in the old wizard's script. _Ms. Malfame, it seems that only the man who had originated this spell would know how to remove it. However, there are other means of destroying a Horcrux—although I doubt it would help in your situation. I'm sure your father would be happy to explain. Signed, Albus Dumbledore._

"I guess I'll go ask Harry about this in the morning," I said to myself, collapsing into a dreamless sleep.

In the morning, I woke up late and used _Scourgify_ on myself; it was unpleasant but I didn't want to waste time. I only had an hour before my father's classes would begin. I rushed to the Great Hall and shoveled down cold porridge and toast. I quickly made my way to his classroom. Some students had already begun to file in, sitting and reading textbooks or talking with friends. I rushed to his desk where he was sorting through graded papers. He looked up as I clasped the edge of the desk, surprised. "Anna, what are you doing here?"

"I need you to tell me how to get rid of Horcruxes," I whispered.

"That's what I'd like to know," Harry said after casting _Muffliato_ on the two of us. "There's something I haven't told you yet, and I think it's about time I did. We didn't make you stay with other families only because it was dangerous. It was also because Draco and I were looking for the answer to the same question." I stared at my father, unable to understand what he had just told me. "You see, I knew all along the Dark Marks were Horcruxes. It was just a suspicion, but when Voldemort came back I was sure of it. Long ago, Dumbledore left me the memory of someone receiving a Dark Mark. In it Voldemort spoke Parselmouth and mentioned something about putting his soul into the person in exchange for their unyielding loyalty. Since then, I've been searching for the answer; but I didn't come up with anything new. The way I destroyed the Horcruxes back in my seventh year remained the same. Basilisk venom was one of them, although I doubt even the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets has any left. It dries out after about five years. I was lucky there was any left back then. There are certain dark spells that work too, but they're extremely dangerous. Such as the Fiendfyre that almost destroyed the Room of Requirement. And then there's Gryffindor's sword—I once pulled it out from the Sorting Hat, but only the bravest Gryffindor would be able to manage that." Harry took a long, even breath. "And then there is one other way. When Voldemort killed me, he actually destroyed his own Horcrux instead, due to the protection of my mother's love. But that's all I can tell you, Anna. I need to focus on my class now," Harry said, removing the spell. "Okay everyone, today we'll be trying to cast a Patronus. Now each wizard's Patronus takes the shape of a different animal. Mine, for example, is a stag. Perhaps you'd like to demonstrate, Ms. Malfame?" he inquired. I sniffed and glanced at my father. He winked and I raised my wand.

"_Expecto Patronum_," I said, thinking of a particularly happy scene between my friends and I. A lion shot out of my wand and roared at the nearest Hufflepuff who screamed and nearly wet himself.

"Would you like to tell us what you thought about?" Harry asked me. I frowned.

"I'm sorry _professor_," I said, stressing the word, "but I need to talk to an inanimate object." I quickly rushed out before he could stop me.

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"Sorting Hat," I said, grabbing the hat and bringing it up to my face. "Could Gryffindor's sword destroy the Horcrux Voldemort set on me?"

"No. The only way to remove the Horcrux is to die. Or have someone die for you," the Sorting Hat responded after a minute, as if the answer was obvious. "Besides, you're not a Gryffindor. Maybe you should reread what Dumbledore wrote you," he advised and became quiet. I did so and scowled. Dumbledore had just revealed that my father would be of no help. I cursed myself and wondered how in hell I would figure out who had created the spell in the first place—but then I remembered Harry telling me that Voldemort had spoken in Parselmouth. Perhaps if I turned into my Animagus form… I grabbed the bottled memory from a pile of socks in my trunk and rushed to Severus's office and muttered the password. I threw myself down to a dusty shelf and retrieved my Pensieve. I poured the memory in and set the bowl on top of my godfather's desk. I clambered on top and concentrated. Soon I felt myself shrinking and, within minutes, I was a large green snake. According to my grandmother, Narcissa, I looked exactly like Nagini, a snake Voldemort once had. The memory wasn't a pleasant one. And so, wondering if this was even going to work, I slithered and placed my head into the bowl.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"_Avada Kedavra_," were the first words out of the memory-Anna's mouth. I knew I had looked at Voldemort while pointing at Percy, but this time I looked at the red-haired man. I could see him quickly untwist the aluminum wrapping from a small sweet; it exploded with a green light that resembled the killing curse. If I hadn't known better, I would have believed I really killed Percy. My parents had told me that Percy had taken a potion to asphyxiate himself. He then used the Zonko's sweet to imitate the killing curse. He had killed himself for me, for a life debt he owed my parents. The Dark Lord was looking at me the entire time.

"Excellent, Malfame," Voldemort said, walking to the memory-Anna and grasping her hand. "Now I must warn you. This hurts more than any Cruciatus Curse you've ever experienced." I knew that the spell would come up now. And, to my surprise, the words that came out of his mouth were crystal clear.

"_I take the soul within me_

_And bind it to this body._

_With the murder of Lucas Chang,_

_I place the final remnant of my soul_

_Within the mark I place._

_Serve me loyally,_

_So that I may live forever._

Incedere quod lotus mihi!_"_

I pulled myself out of the memory before I could hear myself scream. _Great_, I thought, _the Dark Lord used a different language within the Parselmouth._ Unfortunately for him, I recognized it. It was thanks to my participation in the Triwizard Tournament in my fourth year. I concentrated and shifted back to my human form, right as Severus entered the room. Severus looked at me with a strange look, as if he'd never seen me on all fours on top of his desk.

"I won't even ask," he told me, gliding over to a large shelf lined with potions and ingredients. I reached over to a shelf and grabbed a dusty piece of parchment.

"Could you help me translate something?" I asked, knowing that my godfather understood Latin more than I did. A lot of old potions had Latin names and no one had bothered to change them. Severus fished out a quill and handed me some ink. I quickly wrote down the syllables—no doubt I spelled it wrong. Severus sounded it out until I nodded; he had gotten it right.

"Sounds like Latin," he told me. "Literally, it means 'cut and place me'. Does that have any significance?"

"…no," I lied and thanked him. I cleaned everything up and made my way back to my dormitory. I sat down on my bed and thought about the spell. "Whoever created the spell to create Horcruxes," I said to myself, "Not only knew Parselmouth, but Latin as well."

"And probably taught You-Know-Who," the Sorting Hat offered from the post on the edge of my bed.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

"Well someone had to teach You-Know-Who how to create one. You can't just write down Parselmouth." I thought about it; it was true that it would be nearly impossible to write in Parselmouth—but what if the wizard who created the spell wrote it in a different language and told the reader to translate it? But who would keep a book lying around, spelling out how to use the darkest magic in the world? It only made sense that Voldemort would learn the magic directly.

"All the books mentioning Horcruxes," I said, "Were written ages before Voldemort's time."

"Which makes sense that he created a Horcrux himself, eh?" the Hat offered before becoming silent.

"And whoever created them knows how to destroy them," I told myself. "Or, at least I hope so. But who could it be?" I suddenly wished Laura Weasley was here; she usually knew these things. Even Lana Zabini would have more of a clue than me. So I decided to hit the library and see what I could find there. I walked into the common room, finding that Severus had put everything back in place. In a dark corner was a large portrait of Salazar Slytherin; I didn't remember it being there before. As I looked at him, he stared back at me with a meaningful gaze. And so I thought: old, knows Parselmouth, related to Voldemort. It wouldn't hurt to ask. So I strutted over to the portrait and asked him, "What do you know about Horcruxes?"

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"I'm just the portrait of Salazar Slytherin," he replied. "I wouldn't know anything." Surprised that he had even answered, I plowed on to the next question.

"Well someone had taught Voldemort how to make them, right?"

"Yes…" he replied.

"And that person was…you?" I asked, excited.

"…I hardly see why it's important," he said after some hesitation. "Didn't Harry Potter defeat him?" the portrait shrugged. I stared at Salazar as if he were crazy. "Perhaps this would be a good time to mention that I used to hang at the top of that staircase?" he asked, pointing to one. It was an old staircase that went up two floors and then dead-ended. No one ever went up it, except for gullible first years. "I've been there for ages. I was put up there during the Battle of Hogwarts and I was taken down until just a few minutes ago. I'm glad Snape remembered me." I realized that I had left out my Pensieve; Severus probably saw my latest memory. He heard the Parselmouth and I had asked him about the Latin. He probably had put two and two together. It peeved me that he had figured it out before I did.

"He made more Horcruxes," I told the painting. "Believe me, I would know," I laughed bitterly and showed him my Dark Mark. Salazar frowned and walked out of his portrait. It only made me more frustrated with the painting, but he was back in a minute.

"He has agreed to meet you," the portrait said solemnly. "Here's the address," he showed a piece of paper. I had barely enough time to memorize it before he shred it into a million tiny pieces.

"What do you mean '_he_'?" I asked.

"Salazar Slytherin, of course," the portrait said as if I was daft. "But I warn you, getting there may be somewhat of a challenge."

_He's still alive?!_ I thought. I massaged my temples and grinned. "You're talking to the Triwizard champion here!"

"…You sure you belong in Slytherin?" he asked as an afterthought.

"Of course. I'm scared half to death," I admitted. I went up and grabbed the Sorting Hat and left a note for Severus in the common room. I had no idea where the address would lead to. The only ting I recognized was the country—Mongolia. There was no way I could Apparate there; I've never been there. And a broom would become unstable should there be strong winds or a storm. But maybe I could use another method of flight.

I was soon sliding down the familiar pipes of the Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk was now nothing but a pile of bones and my dragon, Cassimere, was sleeping in the middle of the room. He opened an eye and looked at me with a violet eye. Remembering that we couldn't talk this way, I became a snake once more. "Could you take me to this address?" I asked, gesturing towards the piece of paper on the floor. The towering dragon rose up onto his feet and squinted at the tiny letters.

"I might have to ask around, but I'll get you there. I was planning on leaving soon anyways," Cassimere said. He snorted out smoke and put his head to the ground. "Alright, get in," he said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"My mouth. As a snake. The _Blitzkrieg_ dragons tend to create bad weather where we fly, so you can't stay outside." I felt nervous and my dragon laughed. "Don't worry, I won't eat you." I was skeptical but slithered into his mouth. It wasn't wet or slimy like I expected it to be, but dry and rubbery. Cassimere kept his mouth open and braced himself—I immediately felt a strong sense of vertigo. As my head cleared I watched as my dragon rose higher and higher, his beating wings shaking the foundation. We got precariously close to the ceiling; I expected the force of a crash, but we smoothly went through as if it wasn't even there. "The castle's magic," Cassimere said. I was surprised that he could talk with me in his mouth, but perhaps dragons didn't work the same way as humans.

We flew up, high above the clouds. Cassimere swerved opposite of the setting sun and started flying, leaving sparks in his wake. He wasn't a lightning dragon for nothing. As I got used to the height and sensation of flying, the rhythmic flapping of the dragon's wings finally got to me and I fell asleep. I woke up to a loud "Anna!" from Cassimere. "We're not there yet, but there's a clan of _Viator_ dragons. They travel all around the world and have memorized where everything else. Care to talk with them?" He didn't wait for my reply but flew right to a clear spot in the sky. A dozen little dragons popped out of nowhere; they seemed to blend in with their surroundings. They were drastically different from Cassimere, who was a big, blue mountain of a dragon. Cassimere greeted them and introduced himself. One of the little dragons flew over to his mouth, peering in and looking at me.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Oh, Anna Malfame. I mean Anna Malfoy-Potter. I'm a witch who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is my Animgaus form," I told the dragon. "I'm looking for this place," I said and grabbed the parchment with my mouth and brought it to him. The dragon nodded and recited directions to Cassimere.

"Why do you want to go there? A lot of strong magic protects that place," the dragon asked me.

"I'm trying to learn how to get rid of Horcruxes," I replied, figuring the dragon would have no idea what I was talking about.

"Those are still around?" the dragon replied, surprised.

"Yes," I replied. "How do you know about them?"

"It's all Emmet talks about. He was Gringott's dragon until Harry Potter and his friends helped him escape. Once he figured out why Harry Potter was there in the first place, he couldn't shut up about it. Judging by your name, you're his offspring, yes?" he asked. I was a little surprised by the question but confirmed it. "Maybe you know what all of those snake-and-skull symbols are? They keep appearing in the sky, usually above wizarding cities. They're all around the world." This information shocked me; the dragons could see the Dark Marks? And they were all around the world? It seemed like Voldemort's influence wasn't confined to Great Britain and Hogwarts.

"They were set up by the Dark Lord. It cancels out magic," I replied. "I recommend that you stay out of those areas. It could possibly affect the dragons too."

"Thank you; we'll pass on the information. Good luck!" he said and flew away. Cassius shifted and flew onwards.

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**A/N: Here's another chapter! Viator means travelor in Latin. Also, to Potter Who fans, I plan to upload the next chapter sometime today. Thanks for being patient! I've had quite a brain freeze and have worked on other stories instead.**

**Much love,**

**akiqueen**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I jumped out of my dragon's mouth, simultaneously turning back into a human. It was dark and foggy. In front of me was a never-ending fence of sharpened pikes. It was a threatening façade. A large gate was a few feet in front of me, guarded by two figures, their skin a dizzying white in the darkness. I grabbed my wand and held it out, not daring to cast _Lumos_. I could feel them staring at me, but they didn't move as I took a step forward. Then, as I took three more steps, they raised twin sabers into the air and crossed them in front of the entrance, barring my way. "Your dragon isn't allowed here," one of them said. I caught the glimmer of pointed teeth and I shivered; these were vampires.

"I figured that." I tried to make it sound serious, but it came out cheeky. The vampire on the right smiled; it was meant as a threat, not a pleasantry. In an instant, the one on the left was by my side, gripping my shoulder painfully. He looked disgusted for a moment, as if confronted with spoiled milk.

"Ugh, _werewolf_," he complained. I looked at him bizarrely, wondering if he meant Lupin—but it wasn't possible; he had died years ago.

"And _centaur_," the other one added, grabbing my other shoulder.

"And bonded to the Dark Lord!" the first one laughed, pressing against my left forearm. They led me through the open gate; instantly the night life was silenced.

"Nothing can penetrate these wards without Salazar's permission, not even thoughts," they said solemnly.

We walked on; in this time, I learned their names. The one on the left was Anthos, with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. The one on the right had chocolate-brown hair and eyes and was named Otello. Other than their insanely large canine teeth, they could've been mistaken as human. And as crazy as the thought was, I kept on imagining them leading me to a corner somewhere and sucking out all of my blood. "We have already fed," Otello said, picking up on my thoughts. "Although I wouldn't say the same for the other vampires here."

"There're _more_?" I asked incredulously, trying to walk in synch with their fast steps.

"And they're hungry," Anthos laughed. And suddenly, I was released from their grip, in the middle of a dark square. Obscure shapes waved in the wind, playing on my paranoia. Just as quickly, I found myself amidst a group of cloaked vampires, blood-shot eyes staring at me from under their hoods. I stood rooted to the ground, my heart pumping as one of them took my wrist, cut it, and sank their fangs deep inside. It was over within a millisecond; the vampire tore himself away, spitting out the blood and wiping his tongue on his sleeve.

"What was that for?" I asked Anthos and Otello as they appeared by my side.

"We weren't going to deny a taste," Otello said calmly, brushing back his brown hair.

"You taste like snake," the vampire who bit me said, still wiping off his tongue. "_Disgusting_," he added.

"Well, thanks," I said sarcastically, relieved that I wasn't going to be sucked dry. But another thought came into my head. "I'm not going to turn into a vampire now, am I?" I asked nervously. Otello and Anthos just laughed emptily, not answering my question. Hopefully, the answer was 'no'. The vampires continued on walking, passing dark statues and twisting plants which only added to the macabre scenery. Eventually, we got to a flight of stairs leading up to an enormous mansion. With every step I took, one of the vampires would stay behind. When I reached the doors, all of the vampires had left me. I pushed the door open with my shoulder and slid in. The door closed with an ominous _thump_. Inside it was pitch-black. I kept on seeing shadows within shadows lurking at the edge of my vision. "_Lumos_," I said and my wand gave off a feeble light, flickered, and went out. Out of nowhere, the lights turned on; what seemed like thousands of torches went on fire around the room. The room was unnervingly bare and, in the middle of the room, was a single chair with a man looking right at me; he was graying and old. He brought his fingers together and considered me.

"I've been expecting you, Malfame," he said in a heavy voice. "I'm Salazar Slytherin." Frightened half to death, I stepped forward. He cracked a grin and shifted in the chair, his bones creaking and cracking from the movement. He grasped what looked like wheels screwed onto the sides of his chair and wheeled around; I belatedly realized he was in a Muggle wheelchair. He saw my expression and laughed. I could've sworn I saw him laugh up cobwebs and dust. "Ah, yes. When you live _hundreds_ of years without magical care, your body starts breaking down. No human is supposed to live this long _anyways_," he said. He gestured for me to come and I quickly followed him as he raced down the room. "Let's go somewhere more comfortable, shall we?"

We finally reached a small parlor, where a fire was crackling merrily in a fireplace and a wizened house elf served us tea and biscuits. "Let's get to business," he started, sipping his tea. So I explained about the Dark Marks, including the one on my forearm that was a Horcrux and the ones in the sky that blocked magic from everyone but fellow Death Eaters. Salazar nodded, growing more and more worried. He sighed. "I didn't think Tom would go this far. He came seeking power, and I gave it to him."

"Please tell me there's a way to get rid of the Horcruxes that _doesn't_ involve killing myself," I said, "or my father." He looked at me questioningly and I told him about my family. "I thought you'd be a lot more…excuse my language, but 'pureblood' about this."

"Maybe when I was young and conceited," he laughed. "But years by yourself gives you a lot to think about." He ran a hand through his white hair and his wrinkles deepened. "I was not an idiot. I created _one_ Horcrux and I've lived this long. Not to mention, I've kept it under lock and key right under my feet, where no one could find it. Tom, however, made tens of them. Not only that, he was willing to put Horcruxes into living things, which can die naturally, destroying the Horcrux with them. I have a way to destroy the Horcruxes. But you won't like it," he warned. He ordered his house elf to get something, and the two of us waiting for him to return.

"One of the vampires bit me," I said, trying to break the silence. Salazar did a double take.

"And you're not dead?"

"He said I tasted like snake…That's my Animagus form, if that means anything."

"Ah, yes. Vampires don't like the taste of Animagi, because they usually leave an aftertaste of the animal." Seeing my worried look, he hastily added, "Don't worry, you won't turn into one of them. They have a special…um, _ritual_, for that. It might leave a trace of vampire in your blood, though." I'd have to study up on this 'ritual'.

The house elf returned with a small, wooden box and Salazar took it. He gingerly opened it and revealed the treasure within. "A long time ago, I figured out the magic to create Horcruxes. But seeing how this great magic could go wrong, the Founders of Hogwarts created ways to destroy the Horcruxes. Godric's sword destroyed them, along with Rowena's bow and Helga's staff. Similar to the sword, they could only be held by a true member of their respective houses. Rowena's and Helga's weapons were lost, but this was mine." He presented the box to me, and I stared down at a lithe, silver knife. It was viciously sharp and the blade was smaller than my hand. The handle had a snake curling around it. I took it, along with a clip-like sheath. Salazar helped to attach it to my wrist, where the knife could be hidden in my sleeve. "This was my Horcrux," he admitted. "And it seems a paradox that it would also destroy Horcruxes, but it was crucial to make it this way. The magic I put on it will work once, and only once. With the sacrifice of my life, the knife can _break_ the bond between an object and a Horcrux, _and_ the bonds that may have come afterwards."

"So what you're saying is…?"

"Look," he said, and conjured a long chain. The first link in the chain was green. "This is Tom," he said, pointing at the first chain. "And the rest of these are his Death Eaters. If you kill the first one he converted, the first one to receive the Dark Mark…Then the rest of the links will fall." He broke off the links from the green one and threw them to the ground. "And Tom will be vulnerable. He cannot make any more Horcruxes. Unfortunately…"

"I'll be one of those to fall, along with my father and Severus. Not to mention, I'd have to get rid of his first Horcrux." I frowned. "You're saying it was one of his Death Eaters? But who would _that_ be? I thought all of the original Death Eaters were captured and killed in the Battle of Hogwarts."

"Most of them were. Lucius escaped from prosecution. And another…_did_ die. But you're talking about Tom's _first follower_, someone who would do the _same magic_ as him at his command."

"You're saying this wizard made their _own Horcrux_?" I asked incredulously.

"That's how dedicated she was to the Dark Lord."

"_She_?!"

"Yes. Bellatrix Lestrange."

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**A/N: Dun Dun Dun! Wait for the next installment of Anna Malfame to find out what happens next.**

**Shout out to Cassie! I brought back Bella just for you ;)**

**Love,**

**akiqueen**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Where the fuck am I supposed to find Bellatrix Lestrange?" I shouted, my anger getting the best of me.

"I don't know. Where do you think she would be? I'm not the one to ask."

"Not in Malfoy Manor," I assumed. "She would've been the first one in on the action that happened last year." I was sure of this; she would do anything to see the Dark Lord initiate me as a Death Eater. She would've laughed and smiled as Lucas died.

"The way to find a Black is to ask a Black," Salazar told me. He shifted in his wheelchair. "It's time for you to go back, before Voldemort wonders where you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't the vampires tell you? Nothing can enter my domain, not even thoughts. Your mind has been blocked since the moment you stepped into my grounds."

"Ah, brilliant," I said. "Now I just have to keep up my Occlumency and I should be fine." I waved a goodbye. "This may be the last time I see you," I said. "If I use this knife, anyways." Salazar gave me a tired smile – the smile an old person gives when they're ready for death. I made my way out of the mansion and Disapparated to Hogsmeade. I used the secret path through the Shrieking Shack to get back to Hogwarts. I felt no presence of Cassimere; I guess he had gone away, to travel and explore the world. I was happy for him. But right now, I had to figure out what Salazar had meant.

The school year began with the familiar influx of students. Being a Prefect and the newly appointed Captain of the Quidditch team (Seriously, what was Severus thinking? He probably wanted to keep me inside the school. As if it'd be safer here), I ushered in the students and got the expected glares from members of other Houses. I was getting really tired of this rivalry, even though it had significantly lessened during my time here. Once the sorting was finished, I announced the date for Quidditch tryouts. "For those of you who were here last year…you know what we are required to do for your House. There will be a House meeting after dinner in the common room," I announced, watching as the Slytherins' faces blanched. Most of them knew what I was talking about, save the first years. The younger students were the most visibly shaken; barely anyone touched their food. It was after dinner that I led everyone to the dungeons, purposely avoiding my friends from the other Houses. Once everyone was settled, I took out the list of spells that we had to disassemble and pointed to it. "Voldemort requires that we remove these protective spells," I said, watching the students shift their bodies. But they didn't talk or interrupt. "Lana Zabini has provided the details. She will be handing them out shortly." I watched as my friend handed out copies of parchment. These were protective charms: alarms, automatic defenses, immediate nullification of minor hexes, and others. I didn't know the specifics and that was the point; I didn't want to alert the Dark Lord that I was defying him, and the less I knew, the less chance he had of digging out any harmful information.

The mystery of how to _find_ Bellatrix Lestrange remained unsolved until a couple of days later. Where to go to find out about her – or rather, _who_ to go to – was solved by Laura Weasley. I had consulted both her and Lana and had told them about the riddle. "The only way to find a Black is to ask a Black?" Lana asked. Laura tapped her quill against her mouth.

"Why don't you just ask Walburga Black, Sirius's mum?" Laura asked.

"What do you mean? Isn't she a little…dead?" Lana asked sarcastically.

"I mean her _picture_. I know your family sealed it up, but can't you _unseal_ it?" Laura asked me. My face brightened.

"You know, I never thought about that," I said. "But how am I supposed to leave Hogwarts, let alone get to Number Twelve, Grimwauld Place? Ever since the Fidelius Charm was broken, anyone can get into the house. I think that's why my fathers have been so reluctant to let me back in there while they'd been traveling."

"You'd still have wards on your house to protect you," Lana said. "Your fathers are powerful wizards. I'm sure they could provide adequate protection."

"Yes…they could've even set up a ward that can alert them of any unwanted visitors," Laura pointed out.

"And I don't see you getting in any time soon," Lana said. "The only thing that could overpower your fathers' wards would be the original wards set by the Black family." We started at the table in front of us with dismay. Laura bit the end of her quill and looked up at me.

"You could do it, you know," she said. "You have Black blood in you, don't you?"

"Yes, from Draco's family line…why?" I asked.

"Your blood could overpower your father's wards and reinstate the Black family's wards," Laura said.

"Now all you need to do now is leave Hogwarts," Lana said, smiling.

"…That might be a problem," I said.

"Especially if you're gone for a long period of time," Laura added. She took in a deep breath. "I think we can do this. We'll explain to your parents, but…not until you leave."

And so, during the next Hogsmeade weekend, I Apparated to Grimwauld Place. I arrived on the front doorstep, clutching tightly to my Invisibility Cloak. I knew if I tried to open the door, my fathers would be informed, but I placed my hand on it anyways. It shimmered in a blue light and the door refused to open. I bit my thumb and placed my hand on the door. "I break the bonds on this house set by my fathers, and invoke the bonds set by my ancient Black family blood," I said and painted a large circle on the door withf my blood. I wrote out a large array of runes that Laura had researched and made me memorize. Once I was done, I removed my thumb and watched as the blood seeped into the door. The blue light disappeared and was replaced by a threatening black glow. The door swung open, creaking on its hinges.

Inside, it was just as we had left it. Kreacher had obviously been doing his work, because the place was spotless. Speaking of the house elf, I heard a loud _crack!_ as Kreacher appeared in front of me. He magicked the Invisibility Cloak off of me and his scowl turned into a bright smile. "Mistress Anna is back!" he yelped and practically tackled me to the ground. I laughed and closed the door behind me. "But what did Mistress do to the wards?"

"I broke my parents' wards and put the Black family's wards back in place. It was so I could come in," I told the old house elf. "I need to talk to Walburga Black," I said. "Do you remember where her portrait is?"

"Yes, but…the Masters had sealed her away for a reason. Mistress Black is not very… welcoming." The house elf led me to a blank wall. "She is behind here, Mistress." I pulled out my wand and tapped the wall. It moved over, unleashing a petrifying scream.

"HOW DARE YOU KEEP ME LOCKED UP IN HERE FOR SUCH A LONG TIME!" screeched Walburga. I put up my hands and tried to placate her.

"Please, I need to talk to you."

"YOU'RE A FILTHY MUDBLOOD-LOVER, LIKE THE REST OF-"

"Please, SHUT UP!" I yelled and pulled up my sleeve and showed her the Dark Mark. She immediately fell quiet, peering down at me from her dusty portrait.

"The Dark Lord is still alive?" she exclaimed, a sick delight painting her face. I was starting to think that talking to her wasn't the best idea anymore.

"That's the problem," I said, trying to remain calm. She looked at me incredulously.

"A problem? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST OUR LORD?"

"Can you justify the hundreds of deaths for his cause?" Walburga considered me silently. "Look, if you don't help me out, then you and this house are done for."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, if the last member of the Black family doesn't name an heir, then this house and everything in it disappears," I said. "I know. I've done the research on my family." It was the truth. I watched as Walburga's face blanched.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm the rightful heir of this house," I said, smiling. She peered down and stared down at me.

"You sneaky Slytherin," she said, pointing at my silver and green tie. "I don't believe you. Go get the tapestry." I smiled and left her presence, running to a nearby room where my fathers had stashed everything Black-related. The tapestry in question was in a dusty corner and I carried the heavy thing back to her, unrolling it carefully. I pointed down from Sirius Black's name. A dotted line went down to a picture of my father, Harry Potter. She frowned when she saw that. "So that ungrateful son of mine passed it down to _him_," she sneered. But then she looked at the line to the left of him; it was a line that symbolized marriage. She gaped at the name connected to Harry's: Draco Malfoy. She followed another line down with her eyes and I knew she saw my image at the bottom. "No…"

"Yes," I answered. "Anna Malfoy-Potter. A 'true' Black, you could say."

-

**A/N: Yay! Sorry for waiting... 6 months (?) to update! I was having major writer's block for this story. But I should be regularly updating it from now on, since I finally know what I'm doing :)**

**Love,**

**akiqueen**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"So, what do you want?" Walburga asked, eyeing me down with her cold eyes.

"You're going to tell me how I can contact Bellatrix Lestrange," I told her.

"She's dead," the old woman sneered.

"You don't understand," I strained, and told her about my predicament.

"Like I would help you destroy our Lord," she said and turned around in the portrait, crossing her arms across her buxom chest.

"If I die, your family line dies as well," I reminded her. She shrugged.

"My family has been disgraced already by that no-good son of mine. Serving the Dark Lord and allowing you to die would be more honorable in my mind," she sniffed. I groaned, brushing a hand through my hair and thinking about what I had to do to solve this situation. "But," Walburga started in a conniving tone, "I might help you if _you_ help _me_ out with something. There's an heirloom that was stolen from me back when your _father _–" she said the word with such vehemence that I shuddered – "was your age. The Black family locket. If you find it, then I'll tell you how to summon Lestrange." I nodded in reply.

"Kreacher?" I yelled and he popped up in front of me. "Do you know about this locket?" I asked him. He looked at me sheepishly and glanced over at the portrait of his former owner.

"The Dark Lord used it as one of his Horcruxes, he did. Potter and his friends destroyed the original locket, milady," the house-elf told Walburga.

"WHAT?" the old woman screeched and turned around to glare at me.

"I'm sorry. Please do not blame Mistress Anna for this," Kreacher said. I stifled a sigh. He was a brave house-elf for defending me. Walburga seemed to recognize this too and stared down at the small creature.

"Do you serve your current Masters loyally, Kreacher?" the woman asked, surprise painting her crackling voice.

"I helped Master Harry in defeating the Dark Lord," he said, looking straight up at her portrait. The aged woman said nothing, turning to me and looking at me again.

"Fine," she said. She procured a knife from somewhere in the painting. "Find this knife. Using your blood, you can summon anybody and everybody that shares the Black family blood." I nodded in response and ran to the room that had held the tapestry. With Kreacher's help, I found the knife Walburga had shown me. I took it to my thumb and cut a thin line, allowing a drop of blood to drip onto the blade and fall down onto the floor.

"With the blood of a Black, I call forth a Black. Bellatrix Lestrange, I summon you to this house," I whispered. A large, black hole opened up from my drop of blood and expanded. I quickly sealed the door and prepared myself. A body rose up from the ground. It was a woman who was wearing a dirty, mottled black dress. Her wiry, black hair was unbrushed and greasy, falling down past her waist. She had a loose grip on her wand. "_Expelliarmus_!" I said, disarming her. She didn't even flinch; Bellatrix looked up and, as if noticing me for the first time, gave me a crooked smile. Her teeth were yellowed and repulsive. I shouted off a couple of other spells Laura had taught me; by the end of them, Bellatrix was immobile and tied in a bundle of chains.

"My, what a welcome!" she said sarcastically. Her voice was low and gruff, as if it had been left unused for some time. "I'm dragged into my family home and I don't even get a cup of tea?" she asked looking up at me with sleep-rimmed eyes. Kreacher popped inside and offered her a cup, which elicited a bout of crazed laughter from the dirty woman. She glared at me and suddenly turned serious. "What do you want from me?"

"I'm going to…kill you," I said, not liking the taste of the words on my tongue. I pulled out Salazar Slytherin's knife. I steeled myself and tried to lock up my emotions deep in my chest.

"Oh," she said, her eyes widening. I tightened my left hand in a fist as I brought the knife to her throat.

"Do you know what this knife will do?" I asked. I could see Bellatrix gulp as I pressed the knife against her neck.

"Of course. So why don't you stop babbling and kill me already?" she whispered harshly through her teeth. "Or are you too weak to kill another human being?" she teased. My hand twitched and the blade cut against her pale skin, causing a trickle of blood to flow down. It was mesmerizing, watching the blood flow down the nape of her neck. A sick churning feeling hit my stomach and I reeled, realizing what I had done. Bellatrix laughed; it was a cry of despair intermingled with delight, and the scariest thing I have ever heard. "Do it. You think I care if I die?"

"…What?" I asked, clutching my stomach. I felt bile rise in my mouth and I did my best not to throw up. "Aren't you the Dark Lord's greatest follower?"

"He…" she gasped out, "abandoned me after I died at the hands of that bloodtraitor _Weasley_." The last word was spit out of her mouth like a curse. "Just as I lost faith in him after his death at the hands of that itty-baby Potter," she said, spitting out my father's name. "I guess I deserved it. When I came back, I expected him to accept me back into the ranks as his foremost fighter. But he told me that I wasn't needed. When Weasley killed me, she destroyed the Horcrux my Lord had engraved into me," she said easily, silkily. I moved over to her left arm and rolled up the tatters of her black dress. Indeed, there were no signs of the skull and snake tattoo, which I knew couldn't be hidden by magic. Was Bellatrix telling me the truth? I wouldn't know without Veritaserum. But that didn't matter, because Bellatrix interrupted my thoughts. "So kill me. It won't do anything to stop Voldemort." That, at least, I realized was true.

"Then I'll kill you for the sake of avenging Sirius Black's death," I said in reply. I took a step towards the witch.

"Anna Malfoy-Potter," she said calmly, "I would gladly accept death if my Lord doesn't accept my love." She tilted her head to the side. "Torture me, kill me…do what you will. But…I guess you don't want the secret to defeating Voldemort?" she asked me.

"What secret?" I asked, lowering the blade.

"Of all the secrets he entrusted to me, this was his greatest."

"What do you want me to do in return for this secret?" I asked, immediately catching on.

"The chance to see him one last time before I die," she replied. "I don't care if you keep me in chains or drug me, that is all I want." She giggled, and it was the creepiest thing I had ever heard. "After the first run-in with the Dark Lord, that stupid Dumbledore created a way to destroy any future evils. He never suspected the Dark Lord's return, and thus never used this…_object_ against him," she revealed. "In the line of my Lord's work, I discovered where this object was hidden. When I came to him with my findings, Voldemort dismissed and found it laughable, a plan that would never work. Now, I would tell you more, but...I want the security of you upholding your end of the deal. I'm sure you would like the same. What would you say to…an Unbreakable Vow?" she said, looking at me through the curtain of her limp, greasy curls. We had a staring contest of sorts, and it was eerily quiet as I mulled her question in my mind. "Well?" she asked after a while.

"Fine," I said, nodding, putting away the knife. "We'll need a bonder. Hang tight while I call a friend," I added, taking out my wand. I summoned my Patronus and told him to carry a message to Laura Weasley. The lion shimmered and ran through the wall. "Kreacher, open the door for my friend Laura," I said to the air, knowing that the house-elf would hear because of his unique magic. It was only a couple of minutes later than I heard a knock at the door and opened it, revealing my red-headed friend. Laura was visibly shocked to see the dirty woman and glanced worriedly at me.

"A Weasley?" Bellatrix groaned, probably recognizing Laura by her red hair. "Potter, I would kill you for this."

"_Malfoy_-Potter," I corrected and she grimaced.

"I won't sully my sister's name," she replied. "Not let's get this over with," she said, gesturing at Laura with her head.

"Laura, I need you to oversee an Unbreakable Vow between me and Bellatrix Lestrange." She did a double-take, probably wondering what the hell was up with me.

"Anna…" she started.

"Look, it's the only way she'll agree to help me. Besides, both of us can state the terms of the Vow, correct?" I asked.

"Well, yes…it's highly unorthodox – usually only one wizard sets the terms and the other agrees – but it can be done," she replied uneasily.

"Then do it," I said and my friend sighed. I unchained Bellatrix's chains and we grasped each other's hands. Laura started the incantation for the spell and gestured to us when it was our turn to speak.

"Will you let me see the Dark Lord one last time before I die in exchange for telling you about Dumbledore's hidden object?" Bellatrix asked me.

"I will," I replied, and watched as a red band of magic encircled our hands and clamped down tightly. "Will you guide me in the journey to find this object, and be both helpful and truthful the entire time?" I asked.

"I will," Bellatrix said without hesitation. Another band of red followed.

"Will you promise not to temper in my journey, nor try to contact anyone who might foil my plans?"

"…I will," Bellatrix said after some hesitation, obviously not liking the request. A third band of magic followed

"Will you promise to go search for this object with only me, and to not tell anyone prior to going up against Voldemort?" she asked slyly. I glared at her, but took a deep breath.

"I will," I said, watching the fourth band of red ensnare our hands. Neither of us spoke afterwards and Laura finished the incantation and the red bands vanished, but the feeling of tightness did not.

"Well, Potter? Ready to go search for a way to defeat the only man I have ever loved?" Bellatrix asked. She didn't wait for a reply, just grabbed my shoulder and spun around, Disapparating.

**A/N: Dun Dun Dun! I haven't added a chapter in forever, so I thought I'd write one up, and the words flowed fairly easily. I wasn't originally planning the whole Unbreakable Vow thing, but I think it'll really work with what I want to do. Anyways, toon in soon for the next chapters :)**

**Much love,**

**akiqueen**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

We landed roughly, and a wave of motion sickness caught me hard and fast. I tried to steady my stomach as the images of where we were spun around me. Once I got my bearings, I looked around and immediately recognized the area. "…Hogsmeade?" I asked hesitantly. "What are we doing here?"

"The object was hidden away somewhere, and its location is a secret – a secret that was entrusted to several…_people_, I guess is the most appropriate word," Bellatrix drawled. "If they will share this secret is _your_ problem," she added. She grabbed my arm, sending a cold shiver down my back, and reached into my pocket with her other hand. She pulled out my Invisibility Cloak and smiled her yellowed smile. "We'll be needing this. Don't want people to see us, do you?" She threw the cloak over us and led us through Hogsmeade and up the path to Hogwarts. She stopped by the gates. "Well? What are you waiting for? You took my wand. Open it," she hissed. I did as she said; I pointed my wand at the locked gates and cast _Alohamora_. Surprisingly enough, it opened up without resistance. Bellatrix glanced over at me from under the cloak. "It looks like you and the others did a good job of dismantling the school's defenses." I bristled at the cold comment, but didn't say anything as we walked into the grounds. "The secret of this object and how to find it was split amongst several groups: the centaurs, the merpeople, the werewolves, the veela, and the vampires. How Dumbledore managed to convince them to help him, I have no idea," she said, entering the Forbidden Forest. She threw off the Invisibility Cloak and handed it back to me. Apparently we were going to visit the centaurs first.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked.

"Men can tell you everything with the right amount of torture," she said. I didn't understand until she added, "Your uncle was _very_ informative in that respect." I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?" I gasped out, looking at her through a veil of leaves.

"Fenrir Greyback told us about the existence of this object before he died; he infiltrated the werewolf base and used _Imperio_ on each of those sons of bitches. They were forced into loyalty for the Dark Lord. Originally, the werewolves were not 'evil'." Bellatrix laughed at my shocked expression. "Your uncle escaped that. Greyback died before he could tell us everything – by the hands of _Potter_, no less – so Lupin was targeted instead." I glared at her and she gave a slow, sadistic smile. "What?" she asked innocently. "I promised that I would be honest with you." She swept her matted hair out of her face casually. I felt anger bubbling inside of me, threatening to consume me. My hand was already inching into my robe, ready to pull out my wand and hex Bellatrix to Hell. I glanced down at my hand. "Besides, as much as I wanted to torture him myself, I was already disgraced in the eyes of my Lord." I took a deep breath and stayed my hand. I couldn't kill Bellatrix. And even if I allowed myself the pleasure, I couldn't kill her this early in the game. Not just yet, anyways. I shoved what she had just revealed back into my head as we walked into the Forbidden Forest. Bellatrix removed the cloak and stuffed it into my arms as we traversed deeper into the dark woods. It was unnaturally silent. Except for our footsteps, there were none of the sounds one normally expected in a forest. Perhaps the centaurs knew we were coming. Bellatrix didn't talk. She didn't question the path I led her down, but when I glanced at her, her eyes glimmered with curiosity. Obviously she didn't know that I was part of Chief Ascus's herd. I heard the telltale rustles of the brush and braced myself as a pair of centaurs walked into our path.

"Herdmember Anna Malfame," one of them greeted, instantly recognizing me.

"But who is thi – Lestrange!" the other centaur said, gasping, raising and cocking his crossbow. I quickly stepped in front of the witch and yelled, "Stop! I've convinced her in helping me to defeat Voldemort." The centaurs didn't believe me, so I quickly explained about the Unbreakable Vow. I nudged Bellatrix to speak.

"It's true. Apparently, Dumbledore left a means of defeating Voldemort with the centaurs." The centaurs peered at each other, and I saw as their eyes reflected doubt.

"We'll lead you to Chief Ascus," one of them said hesitantly.

"Keep a close look at the witch," the other centaur told me and joined me by Bellatrix's side. He kept the point of his arrow pressed against her skull.

We walked towards a familiar clearing – it was the exact spot where Ascus had fought for his position. A gathering of centaurs were there, and seemed gladdened to see me. However, they immediately scattered when they saw who my companion was. A couple of more centaurs came forward and directed their own crossbows towards Bellatrix's head. Chief Ascus approached me calmly with his mate, Fijjone, whose belly was swelling. Obviously the couple had been quite busy while I was gone. Chief Ascus pointedly ignored Bellatrix and greeted me by grasping my elbows. He finally turned to the other woman and spoke. "Lestrange. You are still alive." It was a statement, not a question.

"Me and Potter swore an Unbreakable Vow that'd I'd help her in finding Dumbledore's hidden object – an object meant to defeat the Dark Lord," she said, ignoring his previous statement. "So, you have any idea what this object might be?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ascus said, directing the response to me.

"But I do," Fijjone said from behind him, her arm on Ascus's shoulder. She looked right at me. "It was passed down to me from Edda, and to her from the Scry before her. Dumbledore did, indeed, give it to us with the warning that it should be used should You-Know-Who came back. But honestly…" she said, being cut off from her sentence with a glance from Ascus. Some unsaid message passed between them. "I will explain in one moment," she said quietly. Fijjone left his side for a couple of minutes. She came back carrying a piece of parchment. "He left us this, with no real explanation on how it relates to anything. Honestly, I don't know how it will help you." She handed the piece of paper to me and all I saw were some random scribbles. They had no rhyme or reason, but I saw that the parchment was ripped. So perhaps it was part of a bigger piece?

"Fijjone, why didn't you tell me about this?" Ascus finally asked.

"I honestly didn't think I would need it anytime soon… Which, and pardon me, Anna, makes me wonder why you need it in the first place. You said it's for defeating Voldemort, but surely you don't mean…" she couldn't finish her sentence, just stopped short. I felt my wrist burn as I answered, "I'm going to fight him. And defeat him."

"All by yourself?" Fijjone asked, a hint of worry in her face.

"We will help," Ascus intervened. "As a fellow herdmember, we will stand by your side. When will you fight?" he asked.

"I can't tell you that," I said, and showed him my wrist, which was burning in a bright, ferocious red. Ascus immediately understood, and instead turned to Bellatrix, perhaps acknowledging her for the first time. He took a step towards her and glared down at him. "What trick are you playing at?" he asked, leering at the witch.

"We made a promise. I help her, she helps me," Bellatrix replied and smiled crookedly. Ascus came forward and grasped the front of her dress

"Let me make one thing clear," he said threateningly. "You hurt Anna, you hurt the entire herd. If you harm her then you can consider yourself dead." I was visibly shocked by the force of the threat. Bellatrix looked shocked as well, but she hid it better than me. I stuffed the piece of parchment into my robes.

"Thank you, both," I said, then looked at my crazed partner. "Where do we go next?" I asked.

"Where do _you _think," she said. I mentally ran through the list of 'people' Bellatrix had mentioned.

"The lake next to Hogwarts supposedly has merpeople there. I guess it's as good a place as any to look next." After saying goodbye and thanking them again for their help, I left the centaurs as we made our way out of the forest. I looked back once, and saw Ascus and Fijjone looking seriously at each other, more unspoken messages brimming between them.

**A/N: Wow, it's been forever since I wrote another chapter. I know where I'm going with this, but I honestly didn't have enough time with college applications and everything. I hope you enjoyed it :)**

**Much love,**

**akiqueen**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

I had stripped myself down of anything weighty, hiding it under the invisibility cloak. I shivered in my dress shirt and pants, while looking over at Bellatrix, who simply stood in her mottled dress and stockings. I ripped the bottom half off without any protest. Better to have that on than forcing her to strip to her brassiere. If she had one on. I almost gagged on the mental image as I cast a water- and cold- repelling spell on our bodies, before gesturing that the witch go into the lake. She broke the surface of the water and I followed her silently, only stopping long enough to cast the water-breathing, _Bubblehead _charm on both of us. Bellatrix seemed amused at my choice of a second-year spell, but I paid no heed as we finally submerged underwater. It was eerie down there, in the dark, with no form of illumination. I cast _Lumos_, lighting the way in front of us as we swam haphazardly down. Thanks to my spells, the water didn't penetrate our skin, so it felt weird, as if we were swimming through thick air. I didn't quite know where I was going, but assumed I'd be stopped by the merpeople eventually.

We got to a clearing of sorts, one which, as far as I could tell from the light emanating from my wand, consisted of four poles. They looked old, older than me, and it was a wonder that they hadn't molded or broken or anything. They looked clean and crisp, and I briefly entertained myself with the idea that this was where the Triwizard Tournament had taken place when my fathers had been in school. They had mentioned that was the year that Voldemort officially had returned, killing an innocent student in the process. Had that death been converted into a Dark Mark as well? The sudden prickle of something pressing against my neck stopped my thoughts. That was followed by a whirlwind of activity, of sudden bursts of water and hands pressing against my body as I was turned around, tied to one of the poles, facing a horrendous creature with snarling teeth and wild hair. It had confiscated my wand. Bellatrix was in a similar situation, but she said nothing, as if she had expected this to happen. A merperson, male as far as I could tell from my still-shining light and his unclad body, pushed through, grimacing as he lifted my face by the point of a sharpened spear. "What are you doing in my domain? Answer or be killed," he asked and his voice was oddly melodious, as if singing. It was so odd, that the threatening tone of his voice fell flat and I found myself laughing in response, but against my better judgment. This only seemed to anger him further. "Do you think I jest when I say I will kill you, follower of the Dark Lord?" he said. He lifted my sleeve, pressing the spear so hard against the ugly tattoo that I bled. Bellatrix watched the tendrils of water floating up in swirls.

"What?" My reaction was incredulous. "I would never follow that man!" This seemed to surprise the merman, but he didn't loosen the grip on his weapon. The crudely shaped stone continued to dig into my flesh. Hopefully I wouldn't get blood poisoning.

"What do you mean? That is his most faithful lapdog over there, is it not?" he asked, motioning towards Bellatrix, who only blinked in response.

"We're – _I'm_ – searching for a way to destroy Voldemort once and for all." Seeing his expression – a mixture of suspicion and confusion – I continued, "You know of his return, don't you?"

"Or course. And the return to the destroying of our lands! He's got those giants working for him, ravaging the mountains in order to disturb our ecologies. Saying they'll only stop if we agree to join them in the last great war," he revealed. Now it was my turn to be shocked.

"War?" I asked, glancing at Bellatrix. She looked surprised herself and, catching my stare bit her lip and turned her head away. She probably hadn't heard of this news herself. "What do you mean, war?"

"You wizards wouldn't know. Neither would the centaurs, who only concern themselves with other centaurs. But news travels fast between our kin and those connected with water. And giants are loose with their tongues," he said, meaning that the giants weren't the most intelligent of chaps. "The Dark Lord is planning to attack. But you should know about this, fiend!"

"I just said we were trying to _destroy_ him!" I shouted back, the bubble around my mouth and nose reverberating. "Damn it, don't you know what he's done?" I said, and explained the situation with the Dark Marks, and how they stopped the use of magic in their areas, how the tattoos were actually Horcruxes.

"Why are you so adamant about this?"

"She's the daughter of fuckin' Harry Potter," Bellatrix drawled, the first thing she had said at all. The merpeople glanced from her to me, and the merman finally removed the spear from my arm. Silence reigned, the only sound that of my beating heart, my rapid breathing as I saw red tint float around me.

"Dumbledore gave you something, something that he said would destroy the Dark Lord," I prompted. "The centaurs gave me some sort of parchment that had been left behind by him." The fins behind the merman's ears flexed as if he was thinking.

"The centaurs? Why?" he asked.

"I'm a herd-member," I answered, clarifying.

"The last other-centaur to be accepted by them was Dumbledore himself," a different voice sang, and the merman was pushed aside by a merwoman, her wonderful voice belying her grizzled looks. She looked well over a hundred, her hair white and her already pronounced wrinkles set deep against her skin. She was bare naked, like the rest of the merpeople, but had some silver blades on a belt around her hips. I had no idea how they hadn't rusted in all this water, but perhaps they had some magical qualities behind them. The other merpeople backed up, but whether it was in reverence or humility, I couldn't tell. "You're saying that those stuck-up horses," she spat, "trusted enough to admit you into their herd?" I nodded defiantly and she laughed, the musical tinkle tickling my ears. "Dumbledore did leave something, child," she said, stepping up close to me. I saw her slate-gray eyes staring down at me. "Although I don't know how it would help you." She looked to the side, beckoning a merman to come forward. He took a long string of kelp and tied it around my eyes, and it effectively blinded me. I could still see the light of my wand through the plant, though, and focused on the spot. "Alas, this object is a secret, and we do not tell secrets to anybody outside of our own people." I felt something cool press down on the sides of my face, and instantly knew it was the flats of the blades. "I get to do the honors, of course. You'd like to be a member, hmm?" she asked and felt the press of fishy lips against my own. I didn't know who it was, but dearly hoped it wasn't the merwoman, as the shock caused me to open my mouth, sucking in a deep breath in surprise. At the same time the blades turned, and I felt their sharp sting as they ran down the side of my skull, right behind my ears. "If you're anything like your parents, your magic should save you," she said, but she was somewhere far away from me as I panicked, the light of the _Lumos_ spell winking out and my bubble bursting, my mouth suddenly filled with a gasp of water. I instantly felt myself swallowing the murky stuff, telling myself to stop struggling, try and figure out a way to get to the air above me. It couldn't be that far, that precious stuff that my lungs burned for. But how to escape these bonds? I instantly tried to transform into my Animagus form, but I lost concentration. I felt my magic and my mind falter, and the blood spewing from my arm and my head didn't help my situation. I felt this cloud of unconsciousness trying to swamp me. The strangest thing happened, then. The melodious voices of the merpeople filled my ears, but they seemed magnified somehow. Or was I imagining it? No matter, for I felt the last bubble of air escape my lips, my heart beating slowly, reluctantly, my magic growing. My veins becoming hotter as electricity crackled but couldn't escape. I couldn't use magic because it was trapped within me, unable to be released. The pain of it all hit me then, and the voices got louder, more distorted, ugly now. The last pulls of life, a last intake of water, and then blackness.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Eyes open. Lights above me, glowing orbs of someone's eyes. The first thing I noticed was that I could breathe, and I greedily took as many breaths as I could before I started to get light-headed. Curious. The air tasted like vegetation of some sort, mixed with mud. And there was something in my enclosed grip, something metal. A key. "Where am I?" I asked, and felt water flush into my mouth. Still underwater? Then this must be a dream, because I was breathing perfectly. There was a rope tied around my arm, leading to an unconscious Bellatrix, who still had the bubble around her mouth and nose. So my magic had only faltered for myself. _How odd_, I thought before my own vision started to fade again.

"Anna!" somebody gasped and I groaned. "Anna, is that you?" I awoke to the early dawn's sunlight against my eyes. I strained to get up, but couldn't do it. The air was hard to breath, as if I hadn't grown accustomed to it yet. Bellatrix was next to me, under the invisibility cloak; I could see a frond of her hair misplaced on the otherwise bare ground. I searched for the source of the sound, seeing a head of blonde from the distance. It was a lone girl, running up to me with distress painted on her face. Or was it joy? I couldn't tell until she was closer, barely a foot away, looking down at me with pained eyes, a half-smile, half-frown on her face. Jessica Weasley, whose sister had received the Dementor's Kiss, whose cousin Raine I had fought against in the tournament. She was staring at me as if I had come from the very pits of hell. I paid no heed to her as I threw the invisibility cloak off of the witch. She was still unconscious, laying willy-nilly on the ground. Jessica practically screamed. I managed to secure my wand and cast _Muffliato_ on the two of us as I dressed and hid the witch's wand within the folds of my robe. I couldn't trust her with it, unconscious or not. It was then, seeing the pale-white visage of my friend, that I realized that I must've looked horrible, still wet from the lake and covered in my own blood and mud. Jessica fell onto the grass, taking me in her arms. "Oh Merlin, we thought you were dead. You just disappeared, and everyone's worried about you, and Laura isn't saying anything, and the entire school's been forced to keep this whole situation mum!" she babbled, holding me with tears streaming down her face. She started patching me up: she dried my clothes and cleaned them, made order out of my hair in a quick flick of her wand, cleaned my skin of blood, healing the cut under the Dark Mark. She said nothing as she looked at it. I offered her no explanation. Her wand touched my temple, then, and a puzzled look came to her face. "I can't heal these cuts behind your ears," she said, tracing them with her fingers. "They're resisting my magic." She took my hands. "Anna, please. Tell me what's going on!" she pleaded.

"I can't. It might get to the ears of Voldemort," I said, and she crossed her arms in defiance.

"Tell me what's going on. Now!" she demanded and I, shocked, didn't quite know what to do.

"Swear you won't tell?" I asked and she nodded hastily. "Fine," I sighed, "but not all of it. I'm searching for an object to destroy _him_ once and for all, and only _she_ knows where it is." I pointed at Bellatrix, who seemed to be waking up. "We've visited the centaurs and merpeople, and they have given us part of the puzzle. We still need to visit the werewolves, veela, and vampires," I revealed.

"Let me help, then. I can guide you to the veela," she said and I shook my head. I showed her my wrist, which was burning red with warning. She immediately recognized the spell.

"I can't search for the object except with her," I explained. Jessica frowned, but unstrung the necklace that I had given her ages ago, a red charm strung on a black string. Her sister had an identical one, except blue.

"Take this. My parents fashioned it into a portkey back to my house," she explained. She didn't say why she had it, and I didn't ask. "Talk with my mom. She's part veela. Maybe she could arrange a meeting?" Jessica shrugged, looking at me one more time. She brought her wand back up to my ears. I felt her warm magic tickle my head. "These damn cuts aren't healing," she murmured, stressed. I touched them, feeling the rough edges just under my jaw line.

"They're not cuts," someone said and Jessica practically screamed as I noticed a merman with his head bobbing out of the water. She clutched her ears in agony.

"What's that screaming? Is it him?" she asked, pointing at the merman. The scream seemed to wake up Bellatrix, for she shot up, immediately reaching down towards her nonexistent wand. She seemed to get her bearings, watching us carefully.

"Something happened after you drowned," Bellatrix provided. "Your grip on your magic faltered and stopped. And then the magic exploded outwards as your body reacted to the near-death experience. I've never experienced quite a powerful blow; it's a good thing you have a good handle on your magic, because otherwise we'd all be fried. Plus, you must be good at dividing your magic, since I didn't end up drowning."

"Wild magic," Jessica provided. "Supposedly your dad had quite some trouble with it."

"Those are gills," the merman interrupted, and both Bellatrix and Jessica clamped their ears with their hands. I couldn't believe his words. "The blades our leader used are infused with mer-magic. When used on land-dwellers, it can give you the ability to breathe underwater. Your magic, plus the need to breathe while drowning, is supposed to fuel the mer-magic into creating gills. It worked a little too well, though. You can hear us normally, now," he mentioned as the others cringed at the sound of his voice. I briefly remembered that merpeople talked in shrieks while on land. So I gingerly crawled to the edge of the lake and dunked my head in. I wasn't too keen in trying to breathe in the water, but the merman encouraged me with a nod of his head. So I did, feeling the cuts on my neck expand as the rush of lake water traveled down my throat and then, as if passing through a filter, turned into air.

"This is amazing!" I shouted, and was surprised to hear myself speak. It was clearer, almost.

"You may even be able to do the same in salt water, such was the magnitude of your magic. And what we felt was restrained. You have great control, Malfoy-Potter," the merman divulged. "And great magic inherited from two powerful wizards. Perhaps your quest won't be for naught." And the man-fish disappeared into the murkiness of the lake. I resurfaced, seeing a concerned Jessica. She had to dry me off again as I told her what happened.

"That's nice," Bellatrix said, feigning boredom, even though her eyes betrayed an intrigued look. "But where do we go next?"

"Just say 'home,'" Jessica said, smiling, and gave me one last hug. I walked over to the older witch and gestured for her to take hold of the red charm.

"Home," I said and felt the tug of the portkey, much more pronounced than that of Apparition, a tug on my nostrils as we zoomed out of Hogwarts and landed _thud_ in the middle of the living room, at Shell Cottage. Filled with wizards. With wands. Who immediately recognized Bellatrix before even registering me, entrapping her in invisible bonds and threatening to kill her if it weren't for my hastily cast _Protego_ which shielded us from the brunt of the attacks. "Stop!" I shouted, and they seemed to recognize me and cease. It was Bill, Fleur, Fleur's sister Gabrielle, and Gabrielle's daughter Raine, who I recognized even after all these years, all staring at the two of us with incredulous looks.

"Is that not 'arry's little girl?" Fleur asked, her French accent still pronounced, lowering her wand.

"What are you doing here? And with _her_?" Raine screamed, and I knew that she still hadn't forgiven me for my 'transgression,' my inability to summon a Patronus and save Isabelle from the Dementor's Kiss. I immediately felt guilty again, but shoved the feelings far into me as I said, "I can explain." I angrily released Bellatrix from her confinement, lifting the powerful spells with surprising ease.

"Quite a reception. What you would expect from a Weasley household," Bellatrix muttered, and the others all flashed her a disapproving grimace. I threw the charm at Bill, who caught it with a frown.

"You better," he said lowly, replying to my statement. I only revealed as much as I had told Jessica, ending with the plea, "I need to go see the veela, to get another step closer in finding this object to defeat Voldemort." I looked at their unbelieving glances. "Please," I added.

"Vell, I still owe 'arry for saving my dear sister, no?" Fleur asked. I looked at her, her glimmering eyes. She had already paid back my father by housing him at Shell Cottage back in his seventh year, after he had escaped from Malfoy Manor. She had no debts to repay. And yet she came closer, encouraging me to come into her opened arms. My anger melted at the gesture; I had been away from those who loved me for too long, had been kept at arms-length from my parents and friends in an attempt to protect them. "Ve are family, right?" she added. I fell into the embrace.

"Not by blood, but close enough," Bill added, ruffling my hair. "And us Weasleys always help each other out."

"This is making me sick," chimed Bellatrix, which immediately made us part, facing towards her. "Can we get on with this?" she asked, looking at me with what appeared to be sadness in her eyes. Bellatrix, sad? I must've been imagining things as Fleur led us outside.

"Come. The veela live near Beauxbatons. Raine can lead you there, no?" Fleur asked of her niece, who only grumbled in reply. Unspoken messages went between the two, as if arguing. Fleur's set expression finally won over. "Au revoir, mon cheri," she said and kissed me on the cheek. Raine took us each by the shoulder and spun in place, Apparating with the two of us in tow. We landed outside of a large castle, obviously the school. And then I was surprised by the feel of a wand against my skull. My arms were bound by a wordless spell, my expression dazed. I should have expected this. No way would Raine _not _take such an opportunity. I struggled to reach my wand, but the invisible bonds clutched tighter to my body. Fretting, I didn't know what to do, how to escape.

"I could kill you for what you did," Raine said, digging into my scalp with the sharp point of her wand. "And yet, they called you family. It would be fitting, don't you think, to take your life in place of Isabelle's?"

"You won't do that," said a voice, a voice that I recognized. A ghostly peregrine falcon swooped down with a blood-curling shriek, talons extended, its eyes fierce. Raine screamed, not noticing the bird's eerie, ghost-like quality, immediately losing her hold on me. I threw a good, measured punch at the girl, effectively knocking her over as she kneeled, rubbing her bruising cheek. I quickly cast _Petrificus Totalus_, immobilizing the witch. Bellatrix just stared, transfixed. Merlin, bless her. I opened my arms in joy as the ghostly falcon launched itself at me. Suddenly corporeal, we tumbled onto the ground with me attempting to smother my friend in hugs. It was Suta.

**A/N: Another chapter :D I really want to finish this fic, so I'm going to go ahead and write as much as I can during this winter break. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Suta immediately began tittering in French, and I had to calm her down before reminding her to switch over to English. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I go to school here, now," she explained. "My mom didn't want me going to Hogwarts anymore, and she couldn't stand our old home, so we moved to France. Crazy, don't you think?"

"You know French?"

"I learned it," she said proudly, perching on my shoulder. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I need to find the veela," I said, and without hesitation explained my mission, giving the exact details I had earlier told Jessica, about how I was searching for an object that Dumbledore had hidden that would destroy Voldemort once and for all, and that I still had yet to find the vampires and werewolves. I introduced Bellatrix as well, and told her the specifics of my Unbreakable Vow. Suta only tsked.

"Well, where to find the vampires is pretty obvious," my girl-turned-bird ghost of a friend said. "I mean, haven't you ever seen any horror movies?" She imitated the bloodsucking sound and said, "Bleh! I'm going to suck your blood!" She fell over, laughing.

"Transylvania?" I took a guess and she nodded.

"But first the veela. You're lucky your friend actually took you here. She could've transported you to a different place," Suta piped, "so let's just leave her here. I'm sure someone will come across her body. Eventually." She took off from my shoulder and lazily led me up the hill, looking back as Bellatrix, not saying anything and keeping an emotionless expression over her features, followed us. We eventually got to the gates of the school. I looked through them at the majestic castle; it was blue, just like their school uniform, and everything seemed to be larger, perhaps to accommodate their half-giant of a headmistress. "Damn it, I forgot. Unlike Hogwarts, the wards around here are still operating," Suta said, swearing. "If you go in, the whole school's going to know about it. And I take it that you _don't_ want to be found," she laughed. She peered around. "I've got an idea. You're not going to like it," she said, cocking her head towards the school, "but at least it'll get you in."

"Why do the veela stay here anyways?" I asked as Suta led me down around the gates.

"Originally it was their castle. They decided to make it into a school when they saw that their population was dwindling," Suta snickered.

"Wait, so they opened it…to find potential mates?" Was that what the bird-girl was hinting at? "But isn't it an all-girls school?" I asked.

"Oh yes," she said. "But as you know, old traditions never die out!" She led me to a tunnel forged into the steep hill. "This, Anna, is the mating tunnel."

"…What?" I asked.

"You've got to understand. Every man from miles wants a veela for a bride. And so, this is the one place in the entire school that's open to the public. Men searching for a bride can go through this tunnel, and they are guaranteed a meeting with the veela."

"Merlin," I said, gulping. "Really?" I was incredulous.

"Sure. They want their line to continue, don't they? But they don't want to do it in front of all of those delicate, female students."

"Why not?" I asked.

"It involves getting naked," she laughed and I flushed, the blood draining out of my face.

"WHAT?" I screamed. "That's not what I'm going to have to do, right?"

"Don't worry, they're going to be naked too," she said. Speechless, I allowed myself to be pushed into the tunnel. Suddenly, a long row of bars erupted from the ground.

"One person at a time, Anna," Suta explained, laughing her little head off. "And no way out! I'll stay with this one!" And the bars thickened, blocking out the sun and enveloping me in darkness. I couldn't even hear Suta's laughs anymore. So I turned around, feeling my way forward, hoping to whatever higher power that was up there to let me get through this.

The darkness enveloped me as I made my way to an open room. As soon as I stepped forward, a hundred torches became illuminated with blue-green fire. Out of a nook came strolling five veela – none of them naked. I sighed in relief; Suta had only been joking with me, then. The five veela were very beautiful indeed and, being the same gender, I wasn't intoxicated with them as I looked at their pale skin and perfect hair. Any man in my place would be drooling by now. They made their way to me and sat down on a raised platform, finally looking at me with frowns on their faces. One of them – a dark-haired goddess in a splendid purple dress that revealed the top of her bosom – began talking in French. "Um, you don't happen to know English, do you?" I asked and the veela fluidly switched over to the language I was familiar with.

"What are you doing in the mating tunnel, female?" she asked me. She didn't even have an accent like Fleur; her voice was delicate, like crystal, but threatening at the same time as she frowned at me.

"Dumbledore gave you something – something that can be used to defeat Voldemort," I started, and then explained my mission. They all listened carefully as I finally revealed my Dark Mark tattoo on my forearm, which they regarded with distaste.

"And why should we trust you?" a blonde veela asked.

"The centaurs made me part of their herd; and the merpeople accepted me in their ranks as well," I said, showing them the fine lines behind my ears that were actually gills. "I need to stop the war from happening. And the only way to do that is to kill the Dark Lord before he even starts it," I said, determined. The veela looked at each other and smiled; it was nasty, almost scary, and I briefly wondered what they had exchanged with that look.

"They would trust you enough to let you join them, daughter of Harry Potter? Then we will give you a similar task. If you should pass, we will accept you as one of the veela, and fight for your cause. You will become a sister to us," the blonde veela said as the females disappeared into the shadows.

"What's the task?" I asked bravely, even though my arms were trembling from beside me.

"Wizards tend to forget that there are _male_ veela as well," a voice chimed and I was suddenly rooted in my spot as a group of three of the most gorgeous men I had ever seen walked into the room. I was seventeen. To say I wasn't affected would've been to lie. Worse, they were wearing nothing but little scraps of cloth around their waists. I could feel myself flushing as they walked closer to me. And then, Merlin. They started to dance. It was all very masculine, and I was entranced and embarrassed at the same time, hoping that they wouldn't lose their loincloths. I couldn't move and, if it weren't for the flash of silver that I saw in one of the veela's hands, I would have stayed standing until I was dead. They each had a small knife in hand, and I suddenly realized that they would kill me – that killing me had been their goal, and that the dancing and all the nakedness was a means of distracting me. I took my foot, spinning it around me as I kicked up a cloud of dust. Unable to see them, I was able to concentrate and _Accio_ all the knives to my hand, throwing them to the other side of the room, out of their reach. And then I let myself melt down into my Animagus form, and slithered away to where I had thrown the knives. I watched as the dust cloud settled down and, to my amazement, the male veela were no longer there. They had disappeared. Shocked, I didn't notice a strong hand pick me up and forcefully close my mouth so that I wouldn't bite with my fangs. I struggled to get free or to change, but it was no use.

"Clever, witch," the veela holding me said as she raised me to her eyes and looked at me. She seemed to be old, even though she looked extremely young. It was the way her eyes looked into mine that I could tell she had lived through a lot. She seemed to read something in my own gaze because she let me go and I immediately transformed back into my human self. "Take those things out of your eyes," she told me and, though confused, I complied and took out my contacts. They allowed me to see the Dark Marks because of the magic Edda the centaur had cast on them, but it was unnecessary now that I knew that the marks were practically everywhere. I welcomed whatever the veela was going to do. "You acted with cunning, and with swift movements, and escaped our lure. Only one of us, a sister, would be able to do as much," she said, and clapped her hands. One of the male veela – thankfully he was dressed – came out with a slip of parchment and a handful of unrecognizable crystals. The paper he handed to me, and I realized this was what Dumbledore had left with them. It was unreadable, just like the centaurs', but at least it was something. He handed the crystals to the veela in front of me and she looked at them all very carefully. She finally gave a sly smile and looked at her companion. "This is it?" she asked carefully.

"Yes," he answered. She gave him a look. "You don't mean to use the sacred crystal?" She raised her eyebrows and he hesitantly acquiesced, running out of the room and coming back in with a crystal wrapped in red velvet. The female veela took it from him, unwrapping an opal shard the size of my fingernail. It was truly extraordinary, almost vibrating with color as she picked it up and broke it in two. "This will allow you to see what Veela see," she told me as she approached me, nearly paralyzing me with her proximity. "This is the last remaining piece of our sacred crystal."

"What makes it sacred?" I asked, barely able to move my mouth as she wrapped her arms around my skull.

"The possibility that it will kill you," she revealed, smiling, and my breathing hitched. "But also the possibility that it will grant all more than one of our powers."

"Powers?" I asked as her hands, each holding a piece of the shard, folded over my eyes.

"You'll see. If you're lucky," she laughed and before I could struggle away, she pressed her elegant fingers against my eyes and drove the sharp shards into my eyes. I immediately screamed as I closed my eyes in pain, a burning fire enwrapping them and then an icy chill freezing them. My eyes watered, but even that proved no relief as I fell to the ground, biting my tongue in agony. _You've survived worse_, I told myself, remembering the blistering pain of obtaining the Dark Mark tattoo. The memory nearly calmed me down enough, and I was able to ride through the pain until my tongue was bleeding and I had scratched my palms into a bloody mess. If it weren't for the sudden kick to the head that I received, I felt pretty confidant that I wouldn't have fainted.

I came to shortly afterwards, looking at my surroundings and rubbing the back of my head. I couldn't feel a bump or bruise, but my head was still throbbing from pain. The veela was looking at me, amusement painted in her body language. And that's when I noticed that everything was clear. "Oh Merlin, I can see," I told her, looking around me. It was quite amazing, not needing my contacts anymore, even though getting one's vision magically corrected wasn't such a hard thing to do.

"Well, that's _one_ thing. I hope it is not the only power that was passed down. Otherwise, it would be such a waste of the sacred crystal," she said, and I immediately glanced at her, focusing o her more intently. If only I could read that odd look on her face –

I was met with a blinding yellow light surrounding her.

"You're yellow," I said dumbly, just pointing at the color and wondering whether I had finally gone crazy or not.

"You can see _auras_?" she asked, immediately standing up and looking amazed. "Only veelas with very high levels of magic can do that. And _you're_ just a human."

"What are auras?" I asked, disregarding her last statement.

"You can read potentially _feel_ others for who they are, get a sense of their personality and their intentions towards you through their auras. Each color is significant only to the viewer." So I couldn't ask her to tell me what 'yellow' meant, but the longer I looked at the yellow light around her, the more content I felt that she meant no harm, that 'yellow' was in fact a very amiable and harmless color. In fact, it whispered _sister_ to my ear, _Tianna_ and I immediately felt both confused and relieved.

"Tianna?" I asked and she immediately startled again, the aura disappearing.

"It _speaks_ to you too?" she asked, incredulous, referring to the aura. "My, you must be a powerful witch indeed." The last part she said lowly, and I could barely hear it.

"What else is there?" I asked. She shrugged.

"There's the allure," she offered and I immediately blanched. I wouldn't want hordes of men stalking me anytime soon. "And maybe you inherited some of our more…defensive traits."

"What do you mean?"

"Next time you're threatened, look to see what happens," she offered and laughed. "And now I believe that it is time for you to leave, sister," she said finally, giving a wave and watching as I left the same way I had entered.

Suta was there, along with Bellatrix. I immediately willed the aura to come again, but it was no good. It seemed like it was something that I couldn't turn on and off at will – at least, not until I got more practice with it.

"So, do you have what you need?" Suta asked and I nodded, pulling out the piece of parchment, along with the one I got from the centaurs. I put the two together in every combination, but it was no good. I was still missing a piece or two, and without them I was clueless.

"We're off to Transylvania next," I supplied. "To meet with the vampires."

"Then it's lucky that I have been there," Bellatrix stated, taking my arm. "My Dark Lord took some of us there when he had marked it," she explained, seeing my questioning look. She spun in place and Disapparated, dragging me in tow.

* * *

**A/N: I haven't continued this in a loooooooooooooooong time, but I'm determined to finish it. And I know how the rest of the story goes, so hopefully this particular series will come to an end soon. I expect 3 more chapters, and an epilogue.**

**Much love,**

**akiqueen**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

We landed in a depressing field: it was bare of trees but filled with brown, dry brush, suggesting that it hadn't rained here for a while. Bellatrix gestured at the sloping ground, and I raised my hand to my brow, trying to keep the burning sun from my eyes as I peered up a steep rise to a large castle. A large, _foreboding_ castle. Bellatrix simply gestured with an offhanded wave and we trekked upwards towards the castle. As I climbed the stairs to the large, oak doors, I felt a sense of trepidation run up and down my spine. I had encountered vampires before; I had even been bitten by one, although apparently I had tasted too much like snake to be converted into a blood-sucker myself. Thank God for that. With my wand out, I pried the door open hesitantly, trying to gauge whether anybody was there or not. Before I had any time to react, though, I was suddenly grabbed by the folds of my robes and dragged inside by blurry figures. I was too frozen to scream, but Bellatrix gave a little gasp of surprise as, before I could even comprehend what was happening, we were stuffed into a room and pushed up against a cold wall. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" the body in front of me asked and I had to take a minute to recognize the fangs in front of me. It was a vampire, looking too hungry for comfort. He was licking his canines with a pointed, salivating tongue.

"I taste like snake," was the first thing that popped into my head; I was too shocked to answer with anything else. Bellatrix elbowed me in the gut, and although painful, it was what I needed to wake me up from my daze. "My name's Anna Malfame," I quickly amended. "And apparently you hold something that would greatly help me in destroying Voldemort once and for all." The vampire holding me immediately released me upon hearing the Dark Lord's name, as if it had stung him. "Dumbledore had given you this item, and I had already received something from the centaurs, the merpeople, and the veela."

"I don't trust you," the vampire said, giving me a dirty look. I shrugged, pulling out the key and the two pieces of parchment from my pocket. I showed it to him, and he frowned, as if he knew what they were for. He faced the doorway, as if preparing to call someone, but not a word came out of his mouth. Just as quickly though, a new body appeared in the room; it was as if they had communicated telepathically.

"I've been expecting you, Ms. Malfame," the new vampire said, looking at me with his grey eyes. He looked old; his body looked to be in his forties, but by the weary look in his eyes I could tell that he was much older, perhaps even centuries old. He cracked a smile, which I knew in vampire terms was a threat. "You gave my brother quite a shock," he said distastefully.

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising my wand in response to his gleaming teeth. He looked at the other vampire and nodded. Almost reluctantly, the vampire nodded and rushed towards me. Rather than using a spell, I put my hands out in surprise, and he rammed into my hands, as if an invisible weight had bowled him over.

"Veela magic. It's a reflex to unexpected attacks, where you put out a burst of magic to intercept said attack," the older vampire said. So that was what Tianna had been talking about when she said to look out for the next time I would be in danger. "So what you said must be true then. The centaurs and merpeople accepted you too? It seems impossible, but perhaps you truly are the one that should be trusted with what Dumbledore gave us. Or, more accurately, what he left on our front doorstep before he Apparated away in fear." The vampire laughed, my eyes trained on the wicked canines he was sporting.

"But…should we just trust her with this?" the other vampire asked.

"We should treat her the same way the others have treated her," the older vampire said. He stuck out his hand, saying, "My name is Lucadra. I am the oldest vampire in existence. And let it be known, Anna Malfame, that I accept you on equal terms with my people. Let it be known that I have accepted you in the same way the others have accepted you."

"My pleasure," I said, taking his hand. He just smiled and said, "Oh, I believe the pleasure is mine. Because I'm going to have a taste of that snake blood." I tensed with my hand in his cold, bloodless grip as he moved past my barriers – _He did say that they only worked with an _unexpected _attack_, I thought – and went straight towards my neck. I screamed, but no sound came out of my mouth as I felt his large teeth pierce straight through my flesh like needles. My vision became hazy, and I could faintly tell that Bellatrix was being restrained by the other vampire as I found myself falling towards the floor. I could feel my blood being drained, almost to the point where there was absolutely none – and suddenly I was released and handed what tasted like a blood-replenishing potion. I could barely struggle to bring it to my lips, but there is was, rushing down my throat as I felt my blood return and my vision clear. Lucadra's brother was holding back the vampire, who was struggling to tear free and probably finish up his work; but after a moment, he too had calmed down.

"What just happened?" Bellatrix asked, staring at me with what looked like concern, which in itself was shocking.

"It is our inborn instinct to drain until there is no blood left. The creating of a vampire occurs when we replace your lost blood with our own. To stop just before that brink of death…well, it is very hard to do. And I am the most disciplined vampire in that regard," Lucadra answered.

"And why was that necessary?" I asked, stepping back from the vampire as he licked his lips.

"That's how we accept others into our order. I infused you with the scent of a vampire. None will attack you for the rest of your life; you are essentially one of us."

"Except not immortal," I added.

"Correct. But you may have inherited an advanced immune system in response to my attack. You may just live longer than the average wizard because of that. Consider my gift to you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out another piece of parchment, handing it over to me solemnly. This made three. I stuffed it into my robes and nodded my thanks.

"Fare thee well, sister," Lucadra said.

"Goodbye…brother," I said, trying to be polite, even though the word was awkward on my tongue.

Bellatrix and I left the castle, and we were thankfully not accosted by any vampires.

"So now all that remains are the werewolves. And then finding this artifact," I said. "You should know where they are, considering what you did to Remus," I said , my tone acidic as I looked over at the blank-faced witch. She nodded and grabbed my arm. I was soon twirling in the feeling of Apparition.

We landed somewhere in Great Britain, but I was unfamiliar with the area in general. It seemed to be a deep forest. It was teeming with magic; it was so strong the hair on my arms was sticking straight up. Bellatrix obviously felt very uncomfortable, so I stuck close to her as we traveled deeper in. As we walked, I could swear I could see eyes observing us from the depths of the trees, but I kept silent as I neared a clearing. They were obviously expecting us; a handful of people were seating on logs, looking at me with a sort of fondness and Bellatrix with obvious distaste. A man, probably their pack leader, approached me and handed me the last piece of parchment without any pomp or circumstance. I was confused. "Why did you give me this? I had to prove myself to the others before I got what Dumbledore left them. And how did you know I was going to come?"

"Word travels fast between magical creatures. As to why I gave this to you…for us werewolves, we already consider you one of our own. Lupin adopted you, and he was one of us. As his pup, you are pack," the man answered me. "But we offer you a gift: the gift of the wolf. By accepting it, we can transform at will," he added, and suddenly instead of a hand he had a paw with razor-sharp claws. "If you accept it as well, then the wolf will surely protect you." I glanced at him nervously. "You will not have to fear the moon, pup," he added, laughing. I nodded, steeling myself as he took my right arm and proceeded to scratch it; the cut was deep and straight down from my elbow to right under the veins in my wrist. At first it didn't hurt; but then the pain registered and I had to swallow a scream as I fell onto my knees, grasping my arm and applying pressure to decrease the blood flow. I gripped it so tightly my knuckles turned white. I found a raging pain shoot through my body, felt the tremors of pain in my bones and could only imagine how painful a real werewolf transformation would feel like, because this was about as bad as a _Crucio_. But then it was over, and suddenly my senses were keener. In my mind's eye, I saw a wolf nodding her head at me, and suddenly it was gone: the pain, the stronger senses, everything. Even my arm had healed, though the scratch had left a scar.

"Go on, put the picture together," Bellatrix told me. I put all four pieces on the ground, and suddenly the meaningless scribbles shifted and moved, showing me a familiar sight.

"Of course it would be here. Voldemort would never come back here," I said. It was a picture of Godric's Hollow, my grandparents' house.

**A/N: This is the penultimate chapter - that's right, the next chapter contains the epic battle against Voldemort, and then there will be an epilogue.**

**Hooray for almost being done!**

**akiqueen**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

I walked towards and through the magical grave marker, entering the dusty house. It hadn't deteriorated in all these years, and I had to assume that was because of the magical wards on it. It didn't allow trespassers through, either. Bellatrix was calmly waiting for me, but somehow it must've recognized my blood and let me through the wards. I visited the house before, and knew exactly what I was looking for. The chest in the basement that even my parents couldn't open. But now I had the key. I made my way down the creaky stairs and immediately found the chest amid a pile of old rugs and furniture. I knelt down and put the key in, and the chest popped up without any resistance. And then I pulled out what was inside. It was an old, dusty tome with a bookmark on a certain page. I opened it, seeing a word written on the bookmark: _Omnia Vincit Amor_. It was obviously a spell, meaning "Love Conquers All." I looked at the paragraph that had a big bracket around it.

_It is said that all souls are connected; and to make that connection between all forms of magical creatures is nearly impossible. But it is said that once such a connection is made, the powers of spells that reach into and gain their power from those you are connected to are amplified tremendously. Take _Expecto Patronum_ for example; many believe the strength comes from your inner happiness, but that strength is amplified by the connections you have made with the loved ones in your thoughts._

So this hadn't been a wild goose chase. Whatever this spell did, it required the world working together against Voldemort. I now knew I held the key. It was time. I walked out of the house and nodded at Bellatrix, who seemed confused that I wasn't holding any sort of "weapon" to use against her lord. Not like she cared. She finally took my arm and spun.

I braced myself as we landed just outside of the Malfoy Manor. At first it was devoid of life, but our presence must have tripped some sort of alarm, because soon we were surrounded by Death Eaters. Even Voldemort was there, in the body of Lucius, walking towards us. He seemed surprised to find Bellatrix, who opened her arms and yelled, "My lord! I am back! I have brought the half-blood," she exclaimed, taking a hold of me and shoving me forward and putting an arm around my neck as she choked me. I shot Bellatrix a look, not quite believing that after all this time she had planned on turning me in. I choked as she sneered right back at me. "Shall I kill her for you, my lord?" she asked.

"Get away, you worthless piece of shit," Voldemort said; Bellatrix bristled, stopped smiling. "You are not worth the ground you are standing on anymore. Not since you died and my soul died with you," he said with a frown, making to move her from me. Bellatrix released her tight hold on my neck and I greedily took in the air.

"But…I love you," she answered, her voice strong. But Voldemort just took out his wand and pointed it right at her. They stared at each other for a moment before something seemed to break in Bellatrix. Tears fell down her cheek as she grabbed my arm and pulled off Slytherin's knife. "If you don't feel the same…then I'll see you in hell!" she exclaimed, plunging the knife through her chest. Shocked, I watched as the woman died in front of me, the knife glowing green as it started working its magic. Now was the time to attack Voldemort: when he was vulnerable. But I couldn't tear my eyes away from Bellatrix. Was she that distraught that she had seriously done that to herself. And I was fixated on the red of her blood. Voldemort's wand moved to point at me, and before I was even comprehending what was happening, he flicked it and yelled, "You thought I didn't know what was going on, did you Malfoy-Potter? But I knew what Bellatrix was doing; she had hoped to put you in my hands. And I have to thank her for that. But obviously you lack the weapon. Dumbledore was a fool." He gave me a creepy smile that chilled my blood. "_Avada Kedavra_, filth."

"_Omnia Vincit Amor_!" I yelled, whipping out my wand as the green burst of light neared me. And suddenly everybody was there: all of my friends, the centaurs, the merpeople, the vampires, the veela, the werewolves, my parents and my grandmother. Literally, physically there, wondering what had just happened. I stared in shock, distracted as the full blow of the _Avada Kedavra_ hit me square in the chest. My fathers screamed as I felt myself tumbling towards the ground, liquid pain shooting through my veins. So this was how death felt like. I had the air knocked out of me as suddenly everything turned black.

_Stand up_, said a voice.

_What? No, I'm fine down here_, I answered into the deep darkness. _I'm dead._

_No, Malfoy-Potter. Your spell acted in the same way that Lily's love had protected Harry Potter. Using your connections, the love of your peers and family strengthened and formed a shield just before Voldemort's spell hit you_.

_Who are you? How do you know this_?

_Death_, she replied, and I suddenly recognized a figure beside me. It was the girl from fourth year. Then she had the form of a child. But now she appeared older, in her mid twenties, with dark hair and a somber smile. _I have grown up too. _

_So am I dead?_

_That is what the knife was made to do. Though the spell protected you, you will still die._

_Fine_, I said, _but let me take care of that bastard first_. She smiled and suddenly my consciousness was back. I saw a blockade of people in front of me, and I forced myself up and through them, much to the surprise of everyone.

"You're alive!" Voldemort said in shock.

"Yes, but you soon won't be. _Avada Kedavra_," I said, this time meaning the spell wholeheartedly. The green light from my wand connected with his body as he screamed and disintegrated, gone forever. My parents and friends rushed over to me, holding me up as I felt a sudden weakness.

"You did it!" Suta congratulated.

"Yes, but those with Dark Marks will die," I said, cutting right to the point before and celebrations could start.

"Not necessarily," said somebody, and we all turned to see Death looking at me. "Your spell was one of connection. It connected everybody to yourself. You can take everyone's curse into yourself, sacrifice yourself for all others with Dark Marks."

"Yes, I'll do it," I said, close enough to death once that I didn't fear it any longer. Everybody was silent at my proclamation."

"No, I will. By the ultimate sacrifice of my life. For my granddaughter, and my son," Narcissa interrupted. And before any of us could protest, Death smiled and touched the woman's shoulder. I watched as my grandmother disappeared, along with the Dark Mark on my forearm.

It was a bittersweet ending, but the people and creatures around me made me realize that I wasn't alone in this. Life would go on. And I would honor my grandmother's sacrifice in any way I could.


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue: 6 years later

It had been a difficult day at the Ministry, but then again, when wasn't it? I had my own division and everything; they had to create a new segment under the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Alliance of Magical Creatures and Wizards. I was still trying to get the general department renamed, but that was still a work in progress.

Because of the connections I had made with the centaurs, merpeople, veelas, vampires, and werewolves, I was now working with them as their representative to bring them more rights in the wizarding world. It helped that Shacklebolt was an open Minister of Magic, and that Hermione Weasley was working with me in the same department. We were making headway already; I had just gotten the papers through to allow werewolves a representative at the Ministry. It was arduous work, but well worth it.

As I was walking out of my office, I bumped into a new employee, Jon Walker if I was remembering correctly. "Sorry, Ms. Malfame! I'm a bit in a rush."

"Well, let me help you out," I said, picking up some of the papers that had fallen and doing my best to carry them all to his office, which was just down the hall from mine.

"Thanks," he said, looking at me with a grateful smile. We awkwardly stood there for a while before he coughed, "Are you done for the day?"

"Oh, yeah. You?"

"Yep."

"Well, do you want to have lunch or something?" I offered and he shot me a dazzling smile.

"Sure, but it's on me. For helping me out. You're doing a great job out there. My aunt was turned into a werewolf, you know." I smiled back at him. His aura was a warm pink.

**A/N: And it is done. The Malfame series has been going on since 2007, and this marks the date of the end of the series. Let it be known that I will never touch the stories I wrote in 2007. They suck, I know it, but this is the only series I have ever written that has taken this long, which has shown how much my writing has improved. ****Every author improves, and I am pleased how my story had turned out for the better at the end. No more pink skirts from Snape. And a lot more dark and horrible things that befall the main character.** If you happened upon this story, decided to take a chance, thank you for the years you have spent with me, whether literally 4 years or 4 years concentrated in a week. 

**We are done!**

**akiqueen**


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